Final Fantasy IX: Redire de Angelus Mortis
by J. K. Blohm
Summary: Final Fantasy IX was the first one I ever played, and it is truly one of my favorite games of all time. However, after the curtains closed, there were still a few unanswered questions floating about. This is my vision of Gaia upon our hero's return.
1. Prologue

Gaia, a young planet with a violent history. Many eons ago, another planet known as Terra, attempted to assimilate with Gaia. The failed assimilation annihilated what small civilizations had formed and ravaged the young planet. Many Terran structures had shifted from Terra to Gaia, along with Terra's red moon. The planet itself had become trapped inside of Gaia.

As Gaia recovered, civilizations began to rise again. A strange sheet of Mist had begun spreading across the planet, spawning ferocious monsters. As the cities of man grew, so did their thirst for power. Wars were waged for decades, but after many years of bloody conflict, there was peace among the kingdoms.

The peace was not meant to last. Brahne, the Queen of Alexandria, had begun a new war amongst the neighboring Kingdoms. A young thief named Zidane, the Queen's own daughter; Garnet, and their friends attempted to stop Queen Brahne's conquest, only to discover that she was merely a puppet being manipulated by a man named Kuja. During an intense battle between Brahne and Kuja, the queen was slain, and Princess Garnet became Queen Garnet of Alexandria. Her rule of Alexandria was short lived, as the kingdom is destroyed by monsters and a beam of light from the sky.

Zidane and his friends pursued Kuja, who was behind the attack on Alexandria. The party finally chases Kuja to Terra, his own planet, where Zidane meets a man named Garland, who reveas to Zidane the dark history of the two planets, and that he and Kuja are brothers. Zidane and his friends fight Garland, but Kuja intervenes and invokes the power of Trance, effortlessly defeating Zidane and his friends. Kuja then proceeds to kill Garland, but death does not stop Garland from informing Kuja that he will soon die. Enraged, Kuja begins to destroy everything in his sights, including the planet itself. The heroes escape the carnage, rescuing as many Genomes, the people of Terra, as they could before returning to Gaia.

Zidane and his companions confront Kuja one final time, only for Kuja to overpower them once again, using all his energy to defeat the group. However, one final battle presents itself as a being calling itself Necron, appears before Zidane, expressing its desire to end all existence. The party musters up what strength they have left to defeat Necron, and are unexpectedly whisked away by Kuja, who wished to save them from deteriorating along with Necron.

Outside of the final battleground, the great Iifa Tree, Zidane remains behind to find Kuja amongst the massive roots, while his friends return to Alexandria. As Zidane finds a Kuja, regretful and dying, the now rampant roots come crashing down upon the two.

Almost a year after the final conflict, the now rebuilt kingdom of Alexandria is celebrating Queen Garnet's seventeenth birthday. As the queen, her citizens, and the friends she had fought alongside of watch the queen's favorite play, one of the actors throws off his cloak to reveal he is none other than Zidane. Garnet and Zidane embrace each other as their friends rejoice.

It has been two weeks since Zidane's return. While Garnet attempted to govern her people, Zidane begins to frequently leave Alexandria without a word. Although Zidane always returns before the day ends, Garnet's frustration with his constant departures start to become more and more evident.


	2. Chapter 1

The faint glow of the morning sun shone upon the Kingdom of Alexandria. The young queen slept beneath the white silk sheets of her bed. As the sun's rays fill the room, Queen Garnet's eyes slowly flutter open. Her sleepy smile soon fades as she sees the bed's other occupant missing. She sits up, scanning the room for her lover, only to find that she was alone in her bedroom. She brings her hands down onto the bed in frustration. "Zidane Tribal, where are you?"

Zidane had already begun to creep through the castle, keeping an eye out for any guards who were making rounds around the castle. "So far so good…" he said to himself. Zidane had only taken a few steps along the upper floor of the main hallway when the clanking of armor was heard, heading towards him. "Great, the last thing I need is to deal with Rusty." He quickly dashed into the large dining room; his back to one of the support beams as the clanking began to fade out of earshot.

"Heh, I still got it." Zidane braged to himself.

"Zidane?" asked a familiar voice.

Zidane jumped, turning around to see a squat figure, a large pink tongue hung out of its mouth. "Zidane, what you doing in here?" Quina asked with his/her usual cheerfulness.

"Oh, hey Quina." Zidane scratched his head. "I, uh, came here to grab a bit to eat."

"You want tasty meal? I cook something good for you." Quina offered. "What I make you?"

"Uhhh, how about your specialty?"

"You want delicious frog stew?" Quina asked energetically.

"Yeah, that." Zidane reluctantly agreed.

"Okay, I go make stew. You wait here." Quina complied, turning around and entering the kitchen. Zidane sighed, having avoided getting caught by anyone wise enough to know Zidane was leaving again.

"Sorry Quina," he apologized, though Quina had already left, "but this is important." Zidane slipped out of the dinning room and continued to head towards the docks.

Meanwhile, Garnet had gotten into her royal dress and had sat down at her table in her room. The bedroom door opened, and a young woman with dirty blonde hair and a metal headband covering her right eye entered the room. "Good morning my queen." Beatrix said with a bow.

"Please Beatrix, there's no need to be so formal." Garnet kindly said to her general.

"Very well." Beatrix agreed with a smile. She looked around the room. "Where is Zidane?"

Garnet crossed her arms. "I wish I knew."

"Shall I have my troops look for him?" Beatrix offered.

"I would appreciate it. Would you have Steiner also look for him?"

"He is off patrolling the castle," Beatrix said, "but if I see him, or any of his Knights of Pluto, I will inform them to search for our runaway."

"Thank you Beatrix." said Garnet with a nod.

Zidane had managed to slip past the soldiers wandering about the castle and make his way to the docks. At the end of the stone bridge, Zidane saw a man his age, seemingly sewn together, with a large leather band on his head.

"You're late." complained the man.

"Heheh, sorry Blank, you wouldn't believe how busy this place can be." Zidane apologized.

"You ready to go?" Blank asked, his arms crossed, leaning against the stone archway.

"Yeah, let's get out of her before someone sees us."

"It's a good thing Cid let us keep the Blue Narciss, just wish he hadn't messed with it." Blank laments, remembering how parts of the Blue Narciss were used to make the Hilda Garde III.

"Hey, it runs," Zidane retorted, "that's all I care about."

The two began to walk down the stairs as a large man in armor watched them from a distance.

"Is that Zidane?" Steiner ponders to himself. "What is he doing here, and with that friend of his no less." He puts his hand to his chin, tilting his head upward, his mind wandering. "Wait, are they going somewhere?" He begins jumping up and down, his armor clanking about as he did. "How dare he abandon the Queen yet again!" Steiner began to run towards the now departing ship. "Someone stop that ship!" Steiner ordered, but the two thieves had already set sail, riding out into the ocean…


	3. Chapter 2

The Blue Narciss, once able to speed along the waves, now treaded along the water at a more peaceful rate, since a third of its parts had become part of the Hilda Garde III.

"Looks like we managed to slip away again." Zidane said aloud as Blank pilots the ship. Just then, the low hum of the ship's engine begins to fade into silence, and the Blue Narciss came to a halt, drifting slowly on the calm waters beneath it.

"Blank," Zidane began, sounding annoyed, "did you forget to fill her up?"

"Nope." Blank answered, turning around to face Zidane.

"So what's the deal, why are we stopping? Did something break?"

Blank crossed his arms. "Zidane, what is going on? You keep making me run you all over Gaia, plus your always sneaking out of your own home."

"What, Alexandria?" Zidane questioned. "I wouldn't exactly call that ho-"

"Cut the act Zidane." Blank sternly ordered.

Zidane hesitated for a moment, then walked over to the side of the deck, looking out at the ocean.

"… I've been looking for something." Zidane's voice seemed distant. He turned around and walked over to Blank. "I think it's better for you to see it yourself."

Blank looked at him, not quite clear what Zidane meant. "I've seen Black Mage Village before Zidane, remember?"

"Once we get there, I'll explain everything."

Blank said nothing, keeping his arms crossed. "… Fine." he finally agreed, returning to the wheel and starting the ship back up. "Must be pretty damn important to ditch your girl for."

"I'm gonna tell her, just not yet."

"Whatever, not my ass that's gotta deal with her." Blank dismisses with a chuckle as they sail towards Black Mage Village.


	4. Chapter 3

The winds blew gently over a small clearing in Black Mage Village. Zidane was kneeling in front of what looked like a scarecrow missing its hay. It wore a small blue coat and a bent steeple hat, and was among many other scarecrow like markers, all wearing similar coats and hats.

"You okay?" Blank asked Zidane, standing near him.

"… Yeah." Zidane rose to his feet. "Just wish I had a chance to say goodbye."

"He died while you were crossing the ocean."

"I know, but still…" Zidane's voice trails off.

"Zidane." The two thieves turned around to see a female genome with blonde hair, wearing a white and pink outfit. "Mr. 444 is waiting for you." Mikoto informed the two.

"Okay, thanks Mikoto." Zidane acknowledged.

"So this big secret of yours," Blank begins, "it's here?"

"Yeah, but Blank-"

"I know, I know." Blank waves his hand. "Come on Zidane, have I ever ratted you out?"

"Jeeze, so much for the cheery village." Blank commented as he and Zidane were lead deeper into the forest, which was now dark and dead. A type B black mage took the lead along the dirt path they traversed. "I haven't seen any other mages, where are they?" Blank asked. The black mage stopped.

"… They're gone." Mr. 444, the black mage. quietly answered.

"Oh," Blank rubs his head, slightly embarrassed, "my bad."

"Zidane, are you sure you want to bring him? We haven't even told the genomes." the black mage questioned.

"It's okay, I trust him." Zidane reassured Mr. 444. The mage turned back towards the path and continueed leading the two deeper into the dead forest. As the three headed further onto the woods, the path became thinner as the trees seemed to come closer and closer. The black mage pushed past some trees surrounding another clearing, then stepped aside for Zidane and Blank to enter. Zidane walked into the clearing, followed by Blank. A few yards away, another black mage, a type C, was seen casting some sort of spell towards the center of the clearing.

"That's-", Blank gasps. In the center of the clearing was a large stump. Floating above it was a tall man in revealing white and purple clothing, his long silver hair hanging from his head as he lay just above the tree trunk.


End file.
